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| A scene from MBC's reality TV show, "Oh Eun-young's Report: Marriage Hell" / Screenshot from the show |
By Lee Gyu-lee
MBC's "Oh Eun-young's Report: Marriage Hell," a couple's counseling reality TV show, is facing a backlash after one of its episodes aired an alleged child molestation case.
The show, hosted by the renowned psychiatrist Oh Eun-young, invites different married couples every week to discuss their issues and offers professional advice. They do this by going through recorded video footage of the couple's life together. Oh then tackles the reasons behind the couple's troubles and offers her advice.
The issue was raised following its latest episode aired on Monday. In the episode, the footage of the couple showed the husband hugging his young stepdaughter, attempting to cuddle her. Then he started poking her on the rear. Despite his stepdaughter saying "No," he was seen continuing to grab her and trying to tickle her.
The husband later said that it was the way he plays with his stepdaughter and shows his affection.
Dr. Oh explained to him that such behavior is not good for the child, saying she is more sensitive than other children. She emphasized that it is important to respect the child's wishes regarding physical contact.
However, after the episode aired, many viewers expressed the opinion that the husband's behavior constituted serious sexual abuse and criticized the show, accusing the production team of not taking any action to stop it.
Some even questioned the judgment of Dr. Oh, who specializes in child and adolescent psychiatry, for not calling out the behavior and taking serious measures against it.
After the backlash hit, the network edited out the footage for VOD services and reruns. But people continued to condemn the show and took to its website. Over 100 comments have been posted on the website, with many even calling on the network to cancel the show.
"I hope 'Oh Eun-young Report' gets canceled. Domestic sexual abuse is a serious crime and child abuse," a user wrote on the network's community platform.
Another user wrote online, "I was so surprised ... to see such behavior on a reality show. It grossed me out that no one ― the person editing the show, the producer, not even the specialist ― acknowledged how wrong it is."
Complaints about the show have been flooding the Korea Communications Standards Commission, the state-run agency that oversees media-related regulations. The agency revealed that about 2,900 complaints were filed as of Wednesday morning and that they will review them all.
However, despite the ongoing backlash, the show's production team has not made any comments regarding the issue.
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